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Second Day
-
Novel VI

[Voice:
emilia
]

[
001
]
Madam Beritola loses two sons, is found with two kids
on an island, goes thence to Lunigiana, where
one of her sons takes service with her master,
and lies with his daughter, for which he is put in
prison. Sicily rebels against King Charles, the son
is recognised by the mother, marries the master's
daughter, and, his brother being discovered, is reinstated
in great honour.

[Voice:
author
]

[
002
]
The ladies and the young men alike had many a hearty laugh
over Fiammetta's narrative of Andreuccio's adventures, which ended,
Emilia, at the queen's command, thus began:

[Voice:
emilia
]

[
003
]
Grave and grievous are the vicissitudes with which Fortune
makes us acquainted, and as discourse of such matter serves to
awaken our minds, which are so readily lulled to sleep by her
flatteries, I deem it worthy of attentive hearing by all, whether
they enjoy her favour or endure her frown, in that it ministers
counsel to the one sort and consolation to the other. [
004
]
Wherefore,
albeit great matters have preceded it, I mean to tell you a story, not
less true than touching, of adventures whereof the issue was indeed
felicitous, but the antecedent bitterness so long drawn out that scarce
can I believe that it was ever sweetened by ensuing happiness.

[Voice:
emilia
]

[
005
]
Dearest ladies, you must know that after the death of the
Emperor Frederic II. the crown of Sicily passed to Manfred; whose
favour was enjoyed in the highest degree by a gentleman of Naples,
Arrighetto Capece by name, who had to wife Madonna Beritola
Caracciola, a fair and gracious lady, likewise a Neapolitan. [
006
]
Now
when Manfred was conquered and slain by King Charles I. at
Benevento, and the whole realm transferred its allegiance to the
conqueror, Arrighetto, who was then governor of Sicily, no sooner
received the tidings than he prepared for instant flight, knowing that
little reliance was to be placed on the fleeting faith of the Sicilians,
and not being minded to become a subject of his master's enemy.
[
007
]
But the Sicilians having intelligence of his plans, he and many other
friends and servants of King Manfred were surprised, taken prisoners
and delivered over to King Charles, to whom the whole island was
soon afterwards surrendered. [
008
]
In this signal reversal of the wonted
course of things Madam Beritola, knowing not what was become
of Arrighetto, and from the past ever auguring future evil, lest she
should suffer foul dishonour, abandoned all that she possessed, and with
a son of, perhaps, eight years, Giusfredi by name, being also pregnant,
fled in a boat to Lipari, where she gave birth to another male child,
whom she named Outcast. Then with her sons and a hired nurse
she took ship for Naples, intending there to rejoin her family.
[
009
]
Events, however, fell out otherwise than she expected; for by stress
of weather the ship was carried out of her course to the desert
island of Ponza, where they put in to a little bay until such time
as they might safely continue their voyage. [
010
]
Madam Beritola
landed with the rest on the island, and, leaving them all, sought out
a lonely and secluded spot, and there abandoned herself to melancholy
brooding on the loss of her dear Arrighetto. While thus she spent
her days in solitary preoccupation with her grief it chanced that a
galley of corsairs swooped down upon the island, and, before either
the mariners or any other folk were aware of their peril, made
an easy capture of them all and sailed away; [
011
]
so that, when Madam
Beritola, her wailing for that day ended, returned, as was her wont,
to the shore to solace herself with the sight of her sons, she found
none there. At first she was lost in wonder, then with a sudden
suspicion of the truth she bent her eyes seaward, and there saw the
galley still at no great distance, towing the ship in her wake. Thus
apprehending beyond all manner of doubt that she had lost her sons
as well as her husband, and that, alone, desolate and destitute, she
might not hope that any of her lost ones would ever be restored to
her, she fell down on the shore in a swoon with the names of her
husband and sons upon her lips. [
012
]
None was there to administer cold
water or aught else that might recall her truant powers; her animal
spirits might even wander whithersoever they would at their sweet
will: strength, however, did at last return to her poor exhausted
frame, and therewith tears and lamentations, as, plaintively repeating
her sons' names, she roamed in quest of them from cavern to cavern.
[
013
]
Long time she sought them thus; but when she saw that her labour
was in vain, and that night was closing in, hope, she knew not why,
began to return, and with it some degree of anxiety on her own
account. Wherefore she left the shore and returned to the cavern
where she had been wont to indulge her plaintive mood. [
014
]
She
passed the night in no small fear and indescribable anguish; the new
day came, and, as she had not supped, she was fain after tierce to
appease her hunger, as best she could, by a breakfast of herbs: this
done, she wept and began to ruminate on her future way of life.
[
015
]
While thus engaged, she observed a she-goat come by and go into
an adjacent cavern, and after a while come forth again and go into
the wood: thus roused from her reverie she got up, went into the
cavern from which the she-goat had issued, and there saw two kids,
which might have been born that very day, and seemed to her the
sweetest and the most delicious things in the world: and, having,
by reason of her recent delivery, milk still within her, she took them
up tenderly, and set them to her breast. [
016
]
They, nothing loath,
sucked at her teats as if she had been their own dam; and thenceforth
made no distinction between her and the dam. Which caused
the lady to feel that she had found company in the desert; and so,
living on herbs and water, weeping as often as she bethought her
of her husband and sons and her past life, she disposed herself to
live and die there, and became no less familiar with the she-goat
than with her young.

[Voice:
emilia
]

[
017
]
The gentle lady thus leading the life of a wild creature, it
chanced that after some months stress of weather brought a Pisan
ship to the very same bay in which she had landed. The ship lay
there for several days, [
018
]
having on board a gentleman, Currado de'
Malespini by name (of the same family as the Marquis), who with
his noble and most devout lady was returning home from a pilgrimage,
having visited all the holy places in the realm of Apulia.
[
019
]
To
beguile the tedium of the sojourn Currado with his lady, some
servants and his dogs, set forth one day upon a tour through the
island. As they neared the place where Madam Beritola dwelt,
Currado's dogs on view of the two kids, which, now of a fair size,
were grazing, gave chase. The kids, pursued by the dogs, made
straight for Madam Beritola's cavern. [
020
]
She, seeing what was toward,
started to her feet, caught up a stick, and drove the dogs back.
Currado and his lady coming up after the dogs, gazed on Madam
Beritola, now tanned and lean and hairy, with wonder, which she
more than reciprocated. [
021
]
At her request Currado called off the
dogs; and then he and his lady besought her again and again to
say who she was and what she did there. So she told them all
about herself, her rank, her misfortunes, and the savage life which
she was minded to lead. [
022
]
Currado, who had known Arrighetto
Capece very well, was moved to tears by compassion, and exhausted
all his eloquence to induce her to change her mind, offering to escort
her home, or to take her to live with him in honourable estate as his
sister until God should vouchsafe her kindlier fortune. [
023
]
The lady
declining all his offers, Currado left her with his wife, whom he bade
see that food was brought thither, and let Madam Beritola, who was
all in rags, have one of her own dresses to wear, and do all that she
could to persuade her to go with them. [
024
]
So the gentle lady stayed
with Madam Beritola, and after condoling with her at large on her
misfortunes had food and clothing brought to her, and with the
greatest difficulty in the world prevailed upon her to eat and dress
herself. At last, after much beseeching, she induced her to depart
from her oft-declared intention never to go where she might meet
any that knew her, and accompany them to Lunigiana, taking with
her the two kids and the dam, which latter had in the meantime
returned, and to the gentle lady's great surprise had greeted
Madam Beritola with the utmost affection. [
025
]
So with the return
of fair weather Madam Beritola, taking with her the dam and the
two kids, embarked with Currado and his lady on their ship, being
called by them--for her true name was not to be known of
all--Cavriuola; and the wind holding
fair, they speedily reached the
mouth of the Magra, and landing
hied
them to Currado's castle;
[
026
]
where Madam Beritola abode with Currado's lady in the quality of
her maid, serving her well and faithfully, wearing widow's weeds,
and feeding and tending her kids with assiduous and loving care.

[Voice:
emilia
]

[
027
]
The corsairs, who, not espying Madam Beritola, had left her at
Ponza when they took the ship on which she had come thither,
had made a course to Genoa, taking with them all the other folk.
On their arrival the owners of the galley shared the booty, and so
it happened that as part thereof Madam Beritola's nurse and her two
boys fell to the lot of one Messer Guasparrino d'Oria, who sent all
three to his house, being minded to keep them there as domestic
slaves. [
028
]
The nurse, beside herself with grief at the loss of her
mistress and the woful plight in which she found herself and her
two charges, shed many a bitter tear. [
029
]
But, seeing that they were
unavailing, and that she and the boys were slaves together, she,
having, for all her low estate, her share of wit and good sense, made
it her first care to comfort them; then, regardful of the condition
to which they were reduced, she bethought her, that, if the lads were
recognised, 'twould very likely be injurious to them. So, still hoping
that some time or another Fortune would change her mood, and
they be able, if living, to regain their lost estate, she resolved to let
none know who they were, until she saw a fitting occasion; and
accordingly, whenever she was questioned thereof by any, she gave
them out as her own children. [
030
]
The name of the elder she changed
from Giusfredi to Giannotto di Procida; the name of the younger
she did not think it worth while to change. She spared no pains
to make Giusfredi understand the reason why she had changed his
name, and the risk which he might run if he were recognised.
This she impressed upon him not once only but many times; and
the boy, who was apt to learn, followed the instructions of the wise
nurse with perfect exactitude.

[Voice:
emilia
]

[
031
]
So the two boys, ill clad and worse shod, continued with the
nurse in Messer Guasparrino's house for two years, patiently performing
all kinds of menial offices. [
032
]
But Giannotto, being now
sixteen years old, and of a spirit that consorted ill with servitude,
brooked not the baseness of his lot, and dismissed himself from
Messer Guasparrino's service by getting aboard a galley bound
for Alexandria, and travelled far and wide, and fared never the
better. In the course of his wanderings he learned that his father,
whom he had supposed to be dead, was still living, but kept in prison
under watch and ward by King Charles. [
033
]
He was grown a tall
handsome young man, when, perhaps three or four years after he
had given Messer Guasparrino the slip, weary of roaming and all
but despairing of his fortune, he came to Lunigiana, and by chance
took service with Currado Malespini, who found him handy, and
was well-pleased with him. [
034
]
His mother, who was in attendance
on Currado's lady, he seldom saw, and never recognised her, nor
she him; so much had time changed both from their former aspect
since they last met. [
035
]
While Giannotto was thus in the service of
Currado, it fell out by the death of Niccolò da Grignano that his
widow, Spina, Currado's daughter, returned to her father's house.
Very fair she was and loveable, her age not more than sixteen years,
and so it was that she saw Giannotto with favour, and he her, and
both fell ardently in love with one another. [
036
]
Their passion was
early gratified; but several months elapsed before any detected its
existence. Wherefore, growing overbold, they began to dispense with
the precautions which such an affair demanded. [
037
]
So one day, as
they walked with others through a wood, where the trees grew fair
and close, the girl and Giannotto left the rest of the company some
distance behind, and, thinking that they were well in advance, found
a fair pleasaunce girt in with trees and carpeted with abundance of
grass and flowers, and fell to solacing themselves after the manner
of lovers. [
038
]
Long time they thus dallied, though such was their
delight that all too brief it seemed to them, and so it befell that they
were surprised first by the girl's mother and then by Currado.
Pained beyond measure by what he had seen, Currado, without
assigning any cause, had them both arrested by three of his servants
and taken in chains to one of his castles; where in a frenzy of
passionate wrath he left them, resolved to put them to an ignominious
death. [
039
]
The girl's mother was also very angry, and deemed her
daughter's fall deserving of the most rigorous chastisement, but,
when by one of Currado's chance words she divined the doom which
he destined for the guilty pair, she could not reconcile herself to
it, and hasted to intercede with her angry husband, beseeching him
to refrain the impetuous wrath which would hurry him in his
old age to murder his daughter and imbrue his hands in the
blood of his servant, and vent it in some other way, as by close
confinement and duress, whereby the culprits should be brought to
repent them of their fault in tears. [
040
]
Thus, and with much more
to the like effect, the devout lady urged her suit, and at length
prevailed upon her husband to abandon his murderous design.
Wherefore, he commanded that the pair should be confined in
separate prisons, and closely guarded, and kept short of food and
in sore discomfort, until further order; which was accordingly done;
[
041
]
and the life which the captives led, their endless tears, their fasts of
inordinate duration, may be readily imagined.

[Voice:
emilia
]

Giannotto and Spina had languished in this sorry plight for full
a year, entirely ignored by Currado, when in concert with Messer
Gian di Procida, King Peter of Arragon raised a rebellion in the island
of Sicily, and wrested it from King Charles, whereat Currado, being a
Ghibelline, was overjoyed. [
042
]
Hearing the tidings from one of his warders,
Giannotto heaved a great sigh, and said:
“
Alas, fourteen years have I
been a wanderer upon the face of the earth, looking for no other than
this very event; and now, that my hopes of happiness may be for ever
frustrate, it has come to pass only to find me in prison, whence I
may never think to issue alive.
”
[
043
]
“
How?
”
said the warder;
“
what
signify to thee these doings of these mighty monarchs? What part
hadst thou in Sicily?
”
[
044
]
Giannotto answered:
“
'Tis as if my heart
were breaking when I bethink me of my father and what part he had
in Sicily. I was but a little lad when I fled the island, but yet I
remember him as its governor in the time of King Manfred.
”
[
045
]
“
And who then was thy father?
”
demanded the warder.
[
046
]
“
His
name,
”
rejoined Giannotto,
“
I need no longer scruple to disclose,
seeing that I find myself in the very strait which I hoped to avoid by
concealing it. He was and still is, if he live, Arrighetto Capece;
and my name is not Giannotto but Giusfredi; and I doubt not but,
were I once free, and back in Sicily, I might yet hold a very honourable
position in the island.
”

[Voice:
emilia
]

[
047
]
The worthy man asked no more questions, but, as soon as he found
opportunity, told what he had learned to Currado; who, albeit he
made light of it in the warder's presence, repaired to Madam Beritola,
and asked her in a pleasant manner, whether she had had by Arrighetto
a son named Giusfredi. The lady answered, in tears, that, if
the elder of her two sons were living, such would be his name, and
his age twenty-two years. [
048
]
This inclined Currado to think that
Giannotto and Giusfredi were indeed one and the same; and it
occurred to him, that, if so it were, he might at once shew himself
most merciful and blot out his daughter's shame and his own by
giving her to him in marriage; wherefore he sent for Giannotto
privily, and questioned him in detail touching his past life. And
finding by indubitable evidence that he was indeed Giusfredi, son of
Arrighetto Capece, he said to him:
[
049
]
“
Giannotto, thou knowest the
wrong which thou hast done me in the person of my daughter, what
and how great it is, seeing that I used thee well and kindly, and thou
shouldst therefore, like a good servant, have shewn thyself jealous
of my honour, and zealous in my interest; and many there are who,
hadst thou treated them as thou hast treated me, would have caused
thee to die an ignominious death; which my clemency would not
brook. [
050
]
But now, as it is even so as thou sayst, and thou art of
gentle blood by both thy parents, I am minded to put an end to thy
sufferings as soon as thou wilt, releasing thee from the captivity in
which thou languishest, and setting thee in a happy place, and reinstating
at once thy honour and my own. [
051
]
Thy intimacy with Spina--albeit
shameful to both--was yet prompted by love. Spina, as
thou knowest, is a widow, and her dower is ample and secure. What
her breeding is, and her father's and her mother's, thou knowest:
of thy present condition I say nought. Wherefore, when thou wilt,
I am consenting, that, having been with dishonour thy friend, she
become with honour thy wife, and that, so long as it seem good to
thee, thou tarry here with her and me as my son.
”

[Voice:
emilia
]

[
052
]
Captivity had wasted Giannotto's flesh, but had in no degree
impaired the generosity of spirit which he derived from his ancestry,
or the whole-hearted love which he bore his lady. [
053
]
So, albeit he
ardently desired that which Currado offered, and knew that he was
in Currado's power, yet, even as his magnanimity prompted, so,
unswervingly, he made answer:
“
Currado, neither ambition nor
cupidity nor aught else did ever beguile me to any treacherous
machination against either thy person or thy property. [
054
]
Thy daughter
I loved, and love and shall ever love, because I deem her worthy of
my love; and, if I dealt with her after a fashion which to the
mechanic mind seems hardly honourable, I did but commit that fault
which is ever congenial to youth, which can never be eradicated so
long as youth continues, and which, if the aged would but remember
that they were once young and would measure the delinquencies
of others by their own and their own by those of others, would not
be deemed so grave as thou and many others depict it; and what
I did, I did as a friend, not as an enemy. [
055
]
That which thou offerest
I have ever desired, and should long ago have sought, had I supposed
that thou wouldst grant it, and 'twill be the more grateful to me in
proportion to the depth of my despair. [
056
]
But if thy intent be not such
as thy words import, feed me not with vain hopes, but send me back
to prison there to suffer whatever thou mayst be pleased to inflict; nor
doubt that even as I love Spina, so for love of her shall I ever love
thee, though thou do thy worst, and still hold thee in reverent
regard.
”

[Voice:
emilia
]

[
057
]
Currado marvelled to hear him thus speak, and being assured of
his magnanimity and the fervour of his love, held him the more dear;
wherefore he rose, embraced and kissed him, and without further
delay bade privily bring thither Spina, who left her prison wasted and
wan and weak, and so changed that she seemed almost another
woman than of yore, even as Giannotto was scarce his former self.
Then and there in Currado's presence they plighted their troth
according to our custom of espousals; [
058
]
and some days afterwards
Currado, having in the meantime provided all things meet for their
convenience and solace, yet so as that none should surmise what had
happened, deemed it now time to gladden their mothers with the
news. So he sent for his lady and Cavriuola, and thus, addressing first
Cavriuola, he spoke:
“
What would you say, madam, were I to
restore you your elder son as the husband of one of my daughters?
”
[
059
]
Cavriuola answered:
“
I should say, that, were it possible for you
to strengthen the bond which attaches me to you, then assuredly you
had so done, in that you restored to me that which I cherish more
tenderly than myself, and in such a guise as in some measure to renew
within me the hope which I had lost: more I could not say.
”
And
so, weeping, she was silent. [
060
]
Then, turning to his lady, Currado said:
“
And thou, madam, what wouldst thou think if I were to present
thee with such a son-in-law?
”
[
061
]
“
A son-in-law,
”
she answered,
“
that was not of gentle blood, but a mere churl, so he pleased you,
would well content me.
”
[
062
]
“
So!
”
returned Currado;
“
I hope within
a few days to gladden the hearts of both of you.
”

[Voice:
emilia
]

[
063
]
He waited only until the two young folk had recovered their
wonted mien, and were clad in a manner befitting their rank. Then,
addressing Giusfredi, he said:
“
Would it not add to thy joy to see
thy mother here?
”
[
064
]
“
I dare not hope,
”
returned Giusfredi,
“
that she
has survived calamities and sufferings such as hers; but were it so,
great indeed would be my joy, and none the less that by her counsel
I might be aided to the recovery (in great measure) of my lost heritage
in Sicily.
”
[
065
]
Whereupon Currado caused both the ladies to come
thither, and presented to them the bride. The gladness with which
they both greeted her was a wonder to behold, and no less great was
their wonder at the benign inspiration that had prompted Currado to
unite her in wedlock with Giannotto, [
066
]
whom Currado's words caused
Madam Beritola to survey with some attention. A hidden spring of
memory was thus touched; she recognised in the man the lineaments
of her boy, and awaiting no further evidence she ran with open arms
and threw herself upon his neck. No word did she utter, for very
excess of maternal tenderness and joy; but, every avenue of sense
closed, she fell as if bereft of life within her son's embrace.
[
067
]
Giannotto,
who had often seen her in the castle and never recognised her,
marvelled not a little, but nevertheless it at once flashed upon him
that 'twas his mother, and blaming himself for his past inadvertence
he took her in his arms and wept and tenderly kissed her.
[
068
]
With gentle
solicitude Currado's lady and Spina came to her aid, and restored her
suspended animation with cold water and other remedies. She then
with many tender and endearing words kissed him a thousand times
or more, which tokens of her love he received with a look of reverential
acknowledgment. [
069
]
Thrice, nay a fourth time were these glad
and gracious greetings exchanged, and joyful indeed were they that
witnessed them, and hearkened while mother and son compared their
past adventures. Then Currado, who had already announced his new
alliance to his friends, and received their felicitations, proceeded to
give order for the celebration of the event with all becoming gaiety
and splendour. As he did so, Giusfredi said to him:
[
070
]
“
Currado, you
have long given my mother honourable entertainment, and on me
you have conferred many boons; wherefore, that you may fill up the
measure of your kindness, 'tis now my prayer that you be pleased to
gladden my mother and my marriage feast and me with the presence
of my brother, now in servitude in the house of Messer Guasparrino
d'Oria, who, as I have already told you, made prize of both him and
me; and that then you send some one to Sicily, who shall make himself
thoroughly acquainted with the circumstances and condition of
the country, and find out how it has fared with my father Arrighetto,
whether he be alive or dead, and if alive, in what circumstances, and
being thus fully informed, return to us with the tidings.
”
[
071
]
Currado
assented, and forthwith sent most trusty agents both to Genoa and to
Sicily. So in due time an envoy arrived at Genoa, and made instant
suit to Guasparrino on Currado's part for the surrender of Outcast and
the nurse, setting forth in detail all that had passed between Currado
and Giusfredi and his mother. [
072
]
Whereat Messer Guasparrino was
mightily astonished, and said:
“
Of a surety there is nought that, being
able, I would not do to pleasure Currado; and true it is that I have
had in my house for these fourteen years the boy whom thou dost now
demand of me, and his mother, and gladly will I surrender them; but
tell Currado from me to beware of excessive credulity, and to put no
faith in the idle tales of Giannotto, or Giusfredi, as thou sayst he
calls himself, who is by no means so guileless as he supposes.
”

[Voice:
emilia
]

[
073
]
Then, having provided for the honourable entertainment of the
worthy envoy, he sent privily for the nurse, and cautiously sounded
her as to the affair. The nurse had heard of the revolt of Sicily, and
had learned that Arrighetto was still alive. She therefore banished
fear, and told Messer Guasparrino the whole story, and explained to
him the reasons why she had acted as she had done.
[
074
]
Finding that
what she said accorded very well with what he had learned from
Currado's envoy, he inclined to credit the story, and most astutely
probing the matter in divers ways, and always finding fresh grounds
for confidence, he reproached himself for the sorry manner in which
he had treated the boy, and by way of amends gave him one of his
own daughters, a beautiful girl of eleven years, to wife with a dowry
suited to Arrighetto's rank, [
075
]
and celebrated their nuptials with great
festivity. He then brought the boy and girl, Currado's envoy, and the
nurse in a well-armed galliot to Lerici, being there met by Currado,
who had a castle not far off, where great preparations had been made
for their entertainment: and thither accordingly he went with his
whole company.
[
076
]
What cheer the mother had of her son, the brothers
of one another, and all the three of the faithful nurse; what cheer
Messer Guasparrino and his daughter had of all, and all of them, and
what cheer all had of Currado and his lady and their sons and their
friends, words may not describe; wherefore, my ladies, I leave it to
your imagination. And that their joy might be full, God, who, when
He gives, gives most abundantly, added the glad tidings that Arrighetto
Capece was alive and prosperous. [
077
]
For, when in the best of spirits the
ladies and gentlemen had sat them down to feast, and they were yet
at the first course, the envoy from Sicily arrived, and among other
matters reported, that, no sooner had the insurrection broken out in the
island than the people hied them in hot haste to the prison where
Arrighetto was kept in confinement by King Charles, and despatching
the guards, brought him forth, and knowing him to be a capital
enemy to King Charles made him their captain, and under his command
fell upon and massacred the French. [
078
]
Whereby he had won
the highest place in the favour of King Peter, who had granted him
restitution of all his estates and honours, so that he was now both
prosperous and mighty. The envoy added that Arrighetto had
received him with every token of honour, had manifested the utmost
delight on hearing of his lady and son, of whom no tidings had reached
him since his arrest, and had sent, to bring them home, a brigantine
with some gentlemen aboard, whose arrival might hourly be expected.

[Voice:
emilia
]

[
079
]
The envoy, and the good news which he brought, were heartily
welcome; and presently Currado, with some of his friends, encountered
the gentlemen who came for Madam Beritola and Giusfredi, and
saluting them cordially invited them to his feast, which was not yet
half done. [
080
]
Joy unheard-of was depicted on the faces of the lady, of
Giusfredi, and of all the rest as they greeted them; nor did they on
their part take their places at the table before, as best they might,
they had conveyed to Currado and his lady Arrighetto's greetings and
grateful acknowledgments of the honour which they had conferred
upon his lady and his son, and had placed Arrighetto, to the uttermost
of his power, entirely at their service. [
081
]
Then, turning to Messer
Guasparrino, of whose kindness Arrighetto surmised nothing, they
said that they were very sure that, when he learned the boon which
Outcast had received at his hands, he would pay him the like and an
even greater tribute of gratitude. This speech ended, they feasted
most joyously with the brides and bridegrooms. [
082
]
So passed the day,
the first of many which Currado devoted to honouring his son-in-law
and his other intimates, both kinsfolk and friends. The time of
festivity ended, Madam Beritola and Giusfredi and the rest felt that
they must leave: so, taking Spina with them, they parted, not
without many tears, from Currado and his lady and Guasparrino, and
went aboard the brigantine, [
083
]
which, wafted by a prosperous wind,
soon brought them to Sicily. At Palermo they were met by
Arrighetto, who received them all, ladies and sons alike, with such
cheer as it were vain to attempt to describe. There it is believed
that they all lived long and happily and in amity with God, being
not unmindful of the blessings which He had conferred upon them.